The communist-ruled island will open more sectors to small businesses and speed up the approval process for new private initiatives, President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced in a televised speech.
Private companies with a maximum of 100 employees were allowed in 2021 and have become an increasingly important part of Cuba's economy. Since February of this year, they have been allowed to import fuel, a sector that was previously completely state-controlled.
As part of the new reforms, private companies will also be allowed to invest on similar terms to foreign companies, after several of them left the country following tightened US sanctions.
Díaz-Canel also promised decentralization of the economy through greater freedom of action for state-owned companies, as well as a streamlined state apparatus.
